comMITTed to Romney!

I received a comment from a couple of our regular readers, Paulee & Mike, from the great state of Maine. Many of you no doubt remember them from all the fun we had last week when they attended the Maine Republican Convention.

Well it seems that Paulee & Mike have just volunteered to help elect conservative Republicans this fall. Yes!! I have taken the liberty of posting part of their comments that have to do with their decision to get involved with their local Republican organization. I can’t over emphasize how important their decision is. They have now placed themselves elbow to elbow with the movers and shakers of their state’s politics. When the time comes to influence their state’s leadership in favor of Mitt Romney in 2012, they will be in a position to lobby for Romney in a way that no outsider could hope to.

Congratulations, Paulee & Mike! Keep us posted on your budding political fiefdom.

~~John Cronin~~

http://committedtoromney.com/2008/05/11/romney-raises-austin-money-for-cornyn/

“Romney Raises Austin Money For Cornyn”

Paulee&Mike on 14 May 2008 at 7:21 am

John, as you suggested, we have let it be known we are available for the Rep. Party
volunteer work etc. Got a letter today about a meeting, so there. Let’s all get involved
and bring about CHANGE, YES WEeeeeeee CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

John Cronin on 14 May 2008 at 5:58 pm
Paulee&Mike,

Welcome to the club!! It’s very gratifying to know that the Party’s volunteer ranks are growing. Keep up the good work and we will have an organization in place to help elect Mitt Romney in 2012.

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Any frequent visitors of this site know that I occasionally launch into random diatribes. What follows will be no different; however, I wish to share with you some of my thoughts, feelings and frustrations. I have been honored to be a part of this site. I have had a lot of fun, and met some great and interesting people. It has been an exciting year, and Presidential Campaign. Many of us have enjoyed the ups and downs of the Romney Campaign  together, and have shared stories, articles, opinions,  friendship, and time.

Governor Romney ran a great campaign. He represented his supporters well; he made alliances and gained the trust of many conservative leaders–but ultimately, he came up short. Many of us were frustrated, sad, maybe even angry when he dropped out of the race. Millions of Republicans voted for him; he won eleven State Primaries or Caucuses; he was endorsed by many prominent conservative activists and leaders. Regardless of whether or not he is ever elected President, or Vice President for that matter, he will be a driving force for conservative principles in the future.

Since Mitt’s pursuit of  the Presidency ended, it has been a struggle to maintain the quality that this site has enjoyed. Some bloggers and readers have chosen not to stick around. At times I have found myself posting multiple posts regarding one topic. Sometimes the only thing I find to talk about is whether or not Mitt will be asked to join John McCain on the ticket. If that were to happen, we would have plenty of material, and a renewed ferver in supporting “our” candidate. I would like to think that if it does not happen, that we will be able to sill post quality information, and continue to enjoy each others friendship, and dialogue.

During tha past couple of days there has been a renewed push against Mitt Romney. It was launched by an obscure PAC known as Government Is Not God. The organization endorsed Mike Huckabee and is ran by some of his supporters. I was upset about it, as I know many of you were. But after their petition was effectively rendered useless, and many Romney supporters signed a petition of our own, I found myself feeling like I was upset about something of no consequence. Now, I still want people to sign our petition; and it will be forwarded to Sen. McCain; I just feel like some of us have let people cause us to dwell on things that really are not that important. The people that are protesting Mitt Romney becoming VP are the minority. Many of them are religious bigots, (if you don’t agree, read some of their comments) and are bitter because their guy is not being considered for VP. The vast majority of Republicans would be happy with a McCain/Romney ticket.

Our time is very limited; and the space in our brain should be considered prime real estate. Whatever things are to occupy that real estate should pay the rent to dwell there, abide by the rules of the land owner, or be evicted. Haters and detractors have no business  in our minds, and should only cause us to examine our own priorities and attitudes. I am grateful for each of you. I hope that all of us continue to support conservative principles and agendas. I also hope that we can be respectful of each other, and those who disagree with us. There is a reason each of us came to this site in the first place. I hope we can continue to find reasons to come back to it.

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Super Tuesday II has come and gone and Sen. McCain has clinched the Republican Presidential nomination. Clinton and Obama continue their internecine warfare for the Democratic nod and, thankfully, Pastor Huckabee is finally out of the race.

As we look at the political landscape, what policies do the remaining candidates offer and are we satisfied that conservatives will be represented in the administration of whoever the winner of the general election is? I think the obvious answer is no.

I will be the first to acknowledge that Sen. McCain is the most conservative of the three remaining candidates. He will prosecute the Iraq war successfully and for that I am grateful. I think he will remain a budget hawk as well. I remain skeptical about his commitment to immigration law enforcement and I am not convinced he will nominate another Roberts or Alito to the SCOTUS.

Both Senators Clinton and Obama are so far left that I honestly worry about the future of the country if either of them win. Clinton’s husband decimated the military during his tenure in office and Hillary will do the same in order to fund the “million ideas” she has for the country, all of them involving federal spending. Obama has already promised to cut “tens of billions of wasteful spending” from the armed forces’ budget. This is also the man who voted “present” 130 times while in the Illinois legislature, but did manage to vote “No” on a bill designed to require medical care be given to a baby born live after a botched abortion.

Those of us on this site remain Mitt Romney partisans, but MR isn’t in the race to represent our interests in this election cycle. That is why I titled this post “Participatory Democracy”. If many of our interests are to be represented this Fall, it will be because we, through our participation in the democratic process, see to it ourselves.

If Mitt was still in the race, I wouldn’t worry about the military. MR wasn’t talking about gutting their budget, he was talking about raising it back up to historical levels. If Mitt were still in the race, I wouldn’t worry about Supreme Court judges or the abortion issue. If Mitt were still in the race, I wouldn’t worry about illegal immigration……But, he’s not.

So, where do we go from here? To Congress. You always start at the top (the presidency) and if that fails, you go down one notch to the legislative branch. As conservatives, it is incumbent on us to remain more involved in the political process than ever. We will not automatically be represented on our hot button issues as we once might have been. Now it is our responsibility to do everything we can to promote conservative principles at the Congressional level, so that we can influence the policy initiatives and the spending levels of the next administration. If it is Clinton or Obama, we are going to have our hands full for the next four years. I say for the next four years and not for the next eight years, because I believe that either one of them will inspire massive buyer’s remorse and that the electorate, after suffering under their wrong headed policies for four years, will have the same reaction to them as it had to Jimmie Carter after his four feckless years in power.

If it is McCain, we will have to be ready to shut down any future amnesty proposals, just like we shut the last one down in the summer of 2007. We have to be sure we let our representatives in Congress know how we feel about the issues and that we are paying attention.

These politicians are very good at counting votes and they know that the body politic is split right down the middle. Any strong stance they take is automatically going to anger about half of their constituency, so they have to know that we have their backs or they will cave to the special interest groups.

Presidential politics, to me, is the most fun. Congressional politics is mostly just hard work, but if we disengage from the process, the liberals will be pleased to craft the legislation for us. You can just use your imagination to envision what they will come up with.

Let’s stay involved during the course of the next four years. Let’s continue to monitor the activities of the U.S. Congress so that we will have a vibrant, powerful, informed and united conservative wing of the Republican Party, ready to assume power in four years, with Mitt Romney as our standard bearer in 2012!

~~John Cronin~~

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From Matt Lewis at Townhall:

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Mitt Romney’s “Hero’s Journey”

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 6:00 PM

Michael Reagan says Ronald Reagan would have endorsed John McCain; He’s right.  As Michael notes: In 1976 the Ford vs. Reagan campaign for the Republican presidential nomination got so heated it looked as if my father and Jerry Ford would never again talk to one another.  When it was over and Ford had won, what did Ronald Reagan do? He simply went all-out to help Ford win his re-election, as did I and as did my sister Maureen. My dad simply followed his rule of backing the Republican candidate no matter who he was. Of course, as we have noted here on several occasions – Mitt Romney seems to be following the Ronald Reagan 1976 playbook.  His CPAC speech has been compared to Reagan’s ‘76 convention speech – and now – his endorsement is being compared to Reagan’s support of Ford …  But while Ronald Reagan’s loss — and his re-birth in ‘80 — is a fairly recent model to use as a comarision, the archetype is almost as old as time.  As Jung would put it, this entire narrative has long been a part of our “collective unconscious.”  In essence, whether he’s doing it consciously. or not, Mitt Romney is seeking to tap into a mythological narrative called the “Hero’s Journey.” If you’ve read Arthur or the Odyssey – or have seen Star Wars or Rocky — you are familiar with the idea.  Before reaching the “promised land,” a hero must first endure his “wilderness years.”  This is essentially a right of passage or initiation (I’ve written that Mitt Romney finally passed his “Initiation” into the conservative movement.)  Of course, the last stage of the “Hero’s Journey” is when the hero reaches his destiny and in a sense, rises from the dead.  If you’re a movie fan, this is the part when Rocky finally wins or when Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are given their awards.  Or if you like politics, it’s the day Reagan wins after everyone thought he was finished in ‘76. In Mitt Romney’s scenario, he becomes the Republican standard-bearer, and ultimately is elected president.

I was struck today, watching the endorsement, by the contrast in demeanor and presentation between Mitt and McCain.  Mitt - positive, affable, and eloquent; McCain - dour, testy with the press, and looking old with a twitchy right eye as he listened to Mitt.  As I’m still recovering from last week’s pull out, I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry at how absurd it was that Mitt was deferring to cranky McCain, pulling his delegates, and supporting McCain for President.  It just seemed so backwards, so appalling, so frustrating, and so wrong.  I tried to watch with an open mind, to listen to what Mitt was really saying, hoping that despite the endorsement, I’d find something to justify my intent to vote for Mitt at my upcoming county convention in Nevada, where I am a delegate.  I’m still confused. 

Anyone reading the comments of our incredible readers on the posts here today understands the pros and cons of Mitt’s endorsement, and of voting for McCain.  I know why I should vote for McCain, I just can’t quite bring myself to say I will yet.  What I do know is that Mitt is smart.  Mitt is pragmatic.  Mitt is about following the path that leads to him making a difference in this country.  I understand that many of the pundits are already painting this as another Mitt flip-flop - Mitt doing whatever it takes to get elected.  The way I see it, Mitt is doing what he needs to do, to put himself in the best position he can to effect conservative change in the country.  When Mitt said, “I can’t wait to get my hands on Washington,” he really meant it.  Mitt will do what needs to be done to get the job done.  Some label this as a type of pandering.  Again, I see it as the practical CEO delivering the goods (conservative leadership) to the customers (us).  Mitt understands that talk is cheap.  In order to be a change agent, you have to be in a position of authority to actually have the power to effect that change.  The fact that Mitt has the humility and foresight to understand this is another reason I am a true Mitt supporter.  As I said last week, I’m a Mitt supporter first and a Republican second.  If I vote for John McCain, it won’t be for the good of the party, it won’t be to beat the Dems, and it won’t be because Mitt told me to. It will be because I believe it will help Mitt continue through his “Hero’s Journey,” all the way to the Presidency.

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Disclaimer:

What follows is the product of my thoughts and may be hazardous to your mental wellbeing.

So… It has been quite a year. Whether it’s the sub-prime slump or Larry Craig, Mahmoud Ahmadenijad or Miss Teen South Carolina, (both of which are serious threats) or what was the other thing? Oh that’s right, an incredibly insane election season–It has been wonderful.

So John McCain IS the Republican Nominee for President; Barack Obama is inspiring millions and raising them too. Sometimes when he starts talking I forget that I disagree with him on almost every fundamental issue of the day; but he sure can talk. There is so much excitement in the Democratic base. The two leading candidates, Obama and what’s-her-doodle agree on just about everything but each have managed to attract their own fervent support and enthusiasm. Now I am not by any means advocating that either one of them becomes the next President; in fact the thought frightens me. I just have come to believe that a Democrat is going to be elected.

Anyway, back to right field. Our party has shown and continues to show that we lack unity and purpose. We have an absolute nominee; yet thousands are still delaying the inevitable by voting for Mike Huckabee. Each day that Mike Huckabee remains in the race, the more fractured and fragile our party becomes. I personally find it silly. The candidate the I support suspended his campaign for the good of his party and his country. He was honorable enough to stand up for his convictions and support the eventual Republican nominee. If that is good enough for Mitt Romney, it is good enough for me. John McCain may lose; he may win; but he will be on the front line of our fight. You don’t have to stand next to him, but at least be willing to stand behind him.

I believe our future is bright. I also believe Mitt Romney’s future is bright. Mitt Romney is this country’s newest eclipse. By extracting from the Greek verb used in part to form the word eclipse, you get the phrase “I am absent”. Now I am very well aware of the fact that Mitt is still around; however, like an eclipse, he has cast a noticeable shadow and past on, leaving onlookers wanting more. Governor Romney suspended his bid at CPAC just as many conservatives were endorsing him. He is now like a great new product that everyone wants but can’t find–an eclipse. He didn’t get his party’s nomination; but he may have gained something more important–his party’s attention.

In 2012 there will be a new cast of competitors, including Mike Huckabee, who may be remembered by many as the guy who helped hand the Presidency to the dems. Mitt will be there and so will we, all of us stronger for the wear. So come what may, I will support my party and Mitt Romney by supporting John McCain. The next few years will bring new challenges, new excitement, new tears, and new joy. The next few years will also bring new opportunities, new dreams–and another eclipse. In a few short years Mitt Romney will return not just as a passing shadow, but as the voice of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

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Will it happen?

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Posted by: Matt Lewis at 10:42 AM

I’ve tried to make this point in previous blog posts, but I don’t think I have effectively — or eloquently — expressed my rationale for why I believe Mitt Romney’s future is brighter than ever.  I’ll try to do so here… Ironically, by graciously withdrawing from the race, Mitt Romney was able to do accomplish something he could not do by staying in the race; finally fully establish his conservative bona fides.  (It’s kind of a Catch-22).  Let me explain … It’s fairly obvious that too many conservatives never fully trusted Mitt Romney — and for legitimate reasons:  Just a few years ago, he was a liberal Republican governor from Massachusetts.  To many, it appeared that he essentially “re-cast” himself as a conservative, in order to run for president this year.  What is more, his polished style helped cement the narrative that he was “casting” himself as a conservative.  For those who value authenticity, Romney was viewed with suspicion. (It is understandable why many conservatives felt this way, after all, we have been misled a few too many times in the past.) Now, let me explain why I believe Romney has finally cleared the conservative hurdle…  Most institutions, such as fraternities, for example, have sort of tribal rituals that one must complete before becoming a full-fledged member (Fraternities are overt about their rituals, while most organizations are not.  For example, it might be known that you don’t get to park in the front row of your office parking lot until you’ve worked there for a year). Similarly, I believe that, by running for president as a conservative in 2008, and by so graciously stepping aside for the good of the party, Mitt Romney has sort of “paid his dues.”  Think of this as his “initiation” into the conservative movement.  The hazing is over! In four — or eight years — assuming Romney remains conservative — he will have held his conservative views for about a decade.  I think that’s a respectable amount of time to assume that he is sincere in his views. By stepping down at CPAC, Romney demonstrated that he is willing to sacrifice his own personal glory for the good of the cause.  I believe that, at that moment, he became a real conservative in the eyes of his skeptics.  Now, he has the chance to either be a conservative voice in the Administration, the “loyal opposition” to a moderate Republican  Administration, or, should a Democrat win, possibly the leader of the conservative movement — and the conservative heir apparent.

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